U.S. History
Mr. Detjen
Reading Study Guide
“Reconstruction, 1865-1877”
I. Annotated Outline. Expand greatly on the following. That is, your task is to use the following template
based on the chapter’s section headings as an organizational format, and then take detailed notes that are both
concise enough to save space, but also comprehensive enough so that you may rely on them instead of having to
back and re-read the chapter when you review for exams. The more time, effort, and thought that you “front
load” here, the more efficient and easier your study time will be when you really need it.
I. Presidential Reconstruction
A. Presidential Initiatives
B. Acting on Freedom
C. Congress versus President
II. Radical Reconstruction
A. Congress Takes Command
B. Woman Suffrage Denied
C. Republican Rule in the South
D. The Quest for Land
III. The Undoing of Reconstruction
A. Counterrevolution
B. The Acquiescent North
C. The Political Crisis of 1877
II. Key Terms. Sometimes known as “IDs and SIGs,” the following people, events, concepts, and the like
must be understood not just as vocabulary words, but rather as integral pieces of a large and interrelated
historical puzzle. Your task is: (1) to identify the term: place each of the following in its historical context by
answering the “who, what, when, where” kinds of questions. This should take about 3-4 sentences. Then, for
full credit (and full understanding), you must (2) explain the significance of each term by applying your
understanding of the identification component to a larger historical story. In an additional 1-2 sentences, your
task is to answer the “so what, why is this important, what does this mean” kinds of question.
separation of powers
pocket veto
Black Codes
gang-labor system
suffrage
poll taxes
scalawags
carpetbaggers
sharecropping
lien (crop lien)
peonage (debt peonage)
liberal, liberalism
home rule
property rights
Wade-Davis Bill
Andrew Johnson
Lyman Trumbull
Sea Islands (SC) plantations
Freedmen’s Bureau
The Fourteenth Amendment
Radical Republicans
Reconstruction Act of 1867
impeachment
The Fifteenth Amendment
AWSA vs. NWSA
Blanche K. Bruce
The Radical Program
Nathan Bedford Forest
Ku Klux Klan Act (1871)
U.S. v Cruikshank (1876)
Pike, The Prostrate South (1873)
National Labor Union
Horace Greeley
Whiskey Ring
Panic of 1873
Election of 1876
III. Chapter Review Analysis. The minimum expectation here is 2-4 paragraphs, each of 8-10 sentences. This
is the culminating task of reading, comprehending, and thinking critically about the chapter under consideration.
You have taken notes on/outlined the chapter, you have analyzed and applied some specific terminology (a
“bottom-up” cognitive process), and now, finally, you are asked to tell a few broad, sweeping stories (a “top
down” cognitive process) all the while making sure to incorporate the “evidence” of the key terms and related
knowledge you may have that pertains to the question. Your answers should demonstrate your understanding of
the “big picture” as well as the specific details which constitute the supporting evidence that reinforces your
interpretation. I’m not in search of the “right answer” here, rather a well-supported position, an interpretation
backed up by evidence. (Hint: make very good use of appropriate, related IDs and SIGs to support the position
you take on the question at hand.)
1. Why and how did the debate over restoring the South to the Union devolve into an institutional struggle
between the presidency and the Congress?
2. Do you believe that the failure of Reconstruction was primarily a failure of leadership? Or, to put it more
concretely, how might the outcome have been different had Lincoln lived? Or chosen a different vice president?
3. Was there any way of reconciling the Republican desire for equality for the ex-slaves with the exConfederate desire for self-rule in the South?